Yo! Opera Festival 2003
'(...) if the development of complex artistic forms of expression is to be continued and kept alive, questions of means of communication for the arts have to be reformulated and answered.'
This quote from playwright Thomas Würdehoff figures at the top of the report on the 2003 edition of the Yo! Opera Festival. It reveals something about the change in course initiated by the organisation from that year, which would later have great influence on Yo! Opera's policies. Yo! Opera had started as an organisation intending to show developments in youth opera, but it would gradually grow into a dynamical platform, initiating new projects and questioning the operatic genre. The awareness of its changing role can already be seen in the festival of 2003. This edition again is a great success thanks to an abundant and varied programme and a large number of visitors. In 2003, no less than 6300 people attended one of the performances at Stadsschouwburg Utrecht, Muziekcentrum Vredenburg, Museum Speelklok or Theater Kikker.
Apart from the initial objectives of the institution, several new elements were added to the festival aims. The relationship with vocational education institutions was strengthened, in order to inspire and enthuse more singers and composers, especially the young ones. The dialogue with institutions in the opera world, both nationally and internationally, and the connected development and positioning of youth opera became more important. Young people were given the opportunity to meet the makers themselves, and to take a look behind the opera scenes. The production process of opera and youth opera, and the connection between the genre and its audiences became the most important element in Yo! Opera's policies.
This slight shift in focus meant that the festival programme was created more critically and tactfully. 'The programme offer is thin, both qualitatively and quantitatively', critics had stated earlier. The lack of character in makers and the tendency to mimic 'great' opera had resulted in a programme with little or no exciting, imaginative or unusual performances.
Highlights in the festival programme were the Pacamambo shows, composed by Zack Zettel and played by the Canadian company Chants Libres, and Drift, an arrangement of Monteverdi’s Ariadne by Wouter van Looy of the Flemish music theatre company Transparant. This show - also directed by Wouter van Looy – showed how relevant and adventurous youth opera on a main stage can be. With their modern and topical interpretations of 17th century poetry and Baroque music, young performers absolutely captivated their audiences. A jury of the Netherlands/Flanders Theatre Festival nominated Drift as one of the best youth performances of the 2003/2004 season. The 'street organ light opera' Een dans voor Lieveke [A Dance for Lieveke] by the Flemish composer Koen de Jonghe and director Marcel Sijm was created together with Museum Speelklok, and Lalala Opera Concert, a production by Yo! Opera itself (together with the Max Tak Orchestra) brightened up the main hall of Muziekcentrum Vredenburg.
A valuable acquisition for the festival programme was a selection of the items from the Flemish Oorsmeer Festival programme, an event which presents music and other performing arts to a young audience. Performances such as Ay dia Luna by Kopergieterij Gent, Radio Ping Pong by John Torso/music theatre company Transparant and Ferral Choir by Phil Minton together with the school De Meander could be seen and heard at Muziekcentrum Vredenburg. Participation by children received particular attention in this edition of the festival: several projects organised by Yo! Opera at schools in Utrecht were added to the festival programme. Next to that, children between 7 and 16 years of age were given the opportunity – as had been done before – to show off their vocal talents on the Open Zangpodium [Open Singing Stage]. Composer Wim Henderickx composed a piece for a choir of trained and untrained children's voices, which was performed twice by pupils of the Montessori school in Utrecht.
Talent and repertoire development activities resulted in a concrete programme item: the composition project Kloppend Hertz. Ten composers were asked to compose a short opera for no more than five singers and three instrumentalists. External experts put the results on stage and the composers were interviewed live. Approximately sixty musicians participated in the Kloppend Hertz project. The final item which completed the second edition of the festival was a last minute programme, in which projects and work in progress were shown to the audience.
As had been done before, a conference was organised simultaneous to the festival, aimed especially at interested professionals.
This quote from playwright Thomas Würdehoff figures at the top of the report on the 2003 edition of the Yo! Opera Festival. It reveals something about the change in course initiated by the organisation from that year, which would later have great influence on Yo! Opera's policies. Yo! Opera had started as an organisation intending to show developments in youth opera, but it would gradually grow into a dynamical platform, initiating new projects and questioning the operatic genre. The awareness of its changing role can already be seen in the festival of 2003. This edition again is a great success thanks to an abundant and varied programme and a large number of visitors. In 2003, no less than 6300 people attended one of the performances at Stadsschouwburg Utrecht, Muziekcentrum Vredenburg, Museum Speelklok or Theater Kikker.
Apart from the initial objectives of the institution, several new elements were added to the festival aims. The relationship with vocational education institutions was strengthened, in order to inspire and enthuse more singers and composers, especially the young ones. The dialogue with institutions in the opera world, both nationally and internationally, and the connected development and positioning of youth opera became more important. Young people were given the opportunity to meet the makers themselves, and to take a look behind the opera scenes. The production process of opera and youth opera, and the connection between the genre and its audiences became the most important element in Yo! Opera's policies.
This slight shift in focus meant that the festival programme was created more critically and tactfully. 'The programme offer is thin, both qualitatively and quantitatively', critics had stated earlier. The lack of character in makers and the tendency to mimic 'great' opera had resulted in a programme with little or no exciting, imaginative or unusual performances.
Highlights in the festival programme were the Pacamambo shows, composed by Zack Zettel and played by the Canadian company Chants Libres, and Drift, an arrangement of Monteverdi’s Ariadne by Wouter van Looy of the Flemish music theatre company Transparant. This show - also directed by Wouter van Looy – showed how relevant and adventurous youth opera on a main stage can be. With their modern and topical interpretations of 17th century poetry and Baroque music, young performers absolutely captivated their audiences. A jury of the Netherlands/Flanders Theatre Festival nominated Drift as one of the best youth performances of the 2003/2004 season. The 'street organ light opera' Een dans voor Lieveke [A Dance for Lieveke] by the Flemish composer Koen de Jonghe and director Marcel Sijm was created together with Museum Speelklok, and Lalala Opera Concert, a production by Yo! Opera itself (together with the Max Tak Orchestra) brightened up the main hall of Muziekcentrum Vredenburg.
A valuable acquisition for the festival programme was a selection of the items from the Flemish Oorsmeer Festival programme, an event which presents music and other performing arts to a young audience. Performances such as Ay dia Luna by Kopergieterij Gent, Radio Ping Pong by John Torso/music theatre company Transparant and Ferral Choir by Phil Minton together with the school De Meander could be seen and heard at Muziekcentrum Vredenburg. Participation by children received particular attention in this edition of the festival: several projects organised by Yo! Opera at schools in Utrecht were added to the festival programme. Next to that, children between 7 and 16 years of age were given the opportunity – as had been done before – to show off their vocal talents on the Open Zangpodium [Open Singing Stage]. Composer Wim Henderickx composed a piece for a choir of trained and untrained children's voices, which was performed twice by pupils of the Montessori school in Utrecht.
Talent and repertoire development activities resulted in a concrete programme item: the composition project Kloppend Hertz. Ten composers were asked to compose a short opera for no more than five singers and three instrumentalists. External experts put the results on stage and the composers were interviewed live. Approximately sixty musicians participated in the Kloppend Hertz project. The final item which completed the second edition of the festival was a last minute programme, in which projects and work in progress were shown to the audience.
As had been done before, a conference was organised simultaneous to the festival, aimed especially at interested professionals.
